The Unbelievable Truth

David Mitchell hosts, as Lucy Porter, Ian Smith, Zoe Lyons and Henning Wehn talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as the middle ages, geese, the human voice and children's tv.

The Truths

Lucy Porter - Potatoes

- Lucy has a bit of crisp stuck in her throat. Found by Ian.

- In 1985, Mr. Potato Head received four votes in the mayoral election for Boise, Idaho. Thus, the toy holds the Guinness World Record for: "Most votes for a toy in a political campaign." Found by Zoe.

- There is a discontinued strawberry fool crisp flavour. It was made by Mackie's for the Chinese market. Successfully smuggled.

- Mr. Potato Head originally smoked a pipe. Successfully smuggled.

- Peter Carl Faberge created Faberge potatoes. Successfully smuggled.

- You can use potatoes to demist your car's windscreen. Successfully smuggled.

Ian Smith - Yorkshire

- Yorkshire inventors include Percy Shaw, inventor of cat's eyes. Found by Lucy.

- In November 2014, the town of Fryup refused a request from PETA to change its name to Vegan Fryup, in exchange for a supply of tofu eggs, soya milk, and vegan sausages and bacon to the locals. Found by Henning.

- The greeting "Ey up" is widely believed to have come from the Vikings, from a phrase originally meaning "Look up" or "Be careful". Successfully smuggled.

- Cleckheaton Central is the only train station in the world to have been stolen. In 1972, a 33-year-old man from Dewsbury was put on trial in Wakefield and charged with stealing stone, timber, metal, railway track, chairs and buffer stops. He was found not guilty on the grounds he had been contracted to remove the items by a company which could no longer be traced. Successfully smuggled.

- In 1379, a baby girl was christened Diot Coke. "Diot" was short for "Dionisia", an early for of the modern name "Denise", and "Coke" was a corruption of "Cook". Successfully smuggled.

Zoe Lyons - Wine

- According to the ancient Roman historian Suetonius, the Emperor Tiberius tortured people by force-feeding them wine and tying the victim's penis so they could not urinate. Found by Ian.

- The Chinese dish of drunken shrimp involves serving shrimp in rice wine. The wine forces the shrimp to defecate, and the shrimp are eaten after their movement has ceased. Found by Lucy.

- White wallpaper makes wine taste worse. Successfully smuggled.

- Pinot Meow is a type of red wine made for cats, made using catnip and beetroot. Successfully smuggled.

- There is a dish of French cellar rat in a red wine sauce, cooked over a flaming wine barrel. Successfully smuggled.

Henning Wehn - Beaches

- There is a Jesus Beach in Turkey. It gets its name due to a sandbar which creates the illusion that people are walking on water. Found by Lucy.

- Most of the beaches in Hawaii are made from excrement, namely that of the parrotfish. Found by Zoe.

- More people are killed by sandcastles than sharks every year. Most of the deaths occur by people falling into the holes they have dug sand out of. Found by Zoe.

- The sand at Omaha Beach, Normandy, is 4% shrapnel. [note[Found by Ian.[/note]

- In Travemunde on the Baltic Sea, all sandcastles must be knocked down at the end of each day. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Lucy Porter: 4 points
- Ian Smith: 3 points
- Zoe Lyons: 2 points
- Henning Wehn: -5 points